Celestia's Academy for Protectors

"I will have to ask her." Cinch growled through bared teeth. "And your promiscuity is the least of your problems, Ms. Razor Back. Your harassment of your fellow students and complete disregard for rules and common sense are what you should concern yourself with!" A vein on her forehead was throbbing dangerously. "It's not surprising a pony like Shining Light can't accept someone like you. I'm surprised you're here at all, but I've known Inkwell to make some very... ill-advised decisions."

Cinch looked at Viridian. "Of course it does. Why do you ask?" she asked, ignoring her other question concerning Razor's attire.

"No reason." Nox lied, burning those facts into her memory. She would need to tell Diamond, sooner preferable to later. But a birthday party was not an option. Part of her attention turned to Wild. "My name is New Moon, and the phoenix's name is Pyra. We found each other in the Dragon Lands. And she's not so much my 'pet' as she is my companion; you can't really "own" a phoenix."

Suddenly the sky darkened, and a gentle pitter-patter started on the windows which quickly became a heavy downpour. Nox looked out the windows and gave a small, relaxed smile. "I thought it was a little dry today."

Hopefully not that many. Fantasy thought. "Nah, she's not yelling for no reason. She's a bitch, yes, she's stuck-up, yes, but she's not yelling for the sake of yelling."

____________________________Constructive criticism of my work is always, always appreciated.

"A student, one Pariah Farcry, has a mechanical prosthetic that's malfunctioning," Viridian explains, doing her very best to remain stoic in the face of Razor's antics. "I have some mechanical expertise so I offered to examine the limb for him. For this, I need proper tools and diagnostic equipment such as would be found in a typical armory. I'm pleased to hear that the school is adequately equipped for my purposes and Mister Farcry's needs." She smiles sincerely. "Could you please direct me to the facilities, Vice Principal Cinch?"All the while that she was speaking very politely to the vice principal, Viridian is edging subtly towards Razor and working to end up, by sheer coincidence, standing beside the smaller pony, giving Razor the opportunity to do whatever she liked with a nearby mare who'd demonstrated he enthusiasm for Razor's very presence.

Sunny nodded. “Yeah. I know I’ve been yelled at quite a lot by my flight instructor. He was a drill sergeant, and was assigned to teach me how to fly again. He didn’t really enjoy having to teach one crippled pegasus how to fly again, and I was run into the ground more times than I could count. It did help my endurance and durability quite a lot though, so in the end, I suppose I’ll have to thank him for all he did next time I see him.” She told her tale. “I guess I’ll just have to put up with a bit more yelling for the time being.”

Wild was rather taken aback by how casually Diamond talked about breaking and dislocating limbs, and also how he managed to make their throats crunch when punching them. "You're... rather relaxed about what you did there, I'm not really certain throats are supposed to make that noise. Worst I ever did was relieving someone of some of their mane, tail and facial fur, replacing it with some rather nasty burns. The others were just unconscious with bruising and a few scrapes here and there." The pegasus said matter-of-factly, finishing off the fruit and vegetables on his plate afterwards and placing it down on the table.

He then turned to Nox with a smile and nodded to her politely, "New Moon, a pleasure to know the name of my saviour, and the name of her wondrous fiery companion, Pyra. You must tell me how you met, I'm sure it's quite interesting." Wild said cheerfully, looking out the window as the rain started to fall. "Ah, I forgot about the weather pegasi's scheduling for the rain. Quite relaxing if I do say so myself, especially when it's like this outside and you're inside, listening to it..." Wild stared out the window, watching the rain drops make their way down the glass. "Now if the rain was a bit lighter, or I wasn't quite dressed to the nines, I wouldn't hesitate to head out there. Something about being in the rain, it's refreshing, wouldn't you agree?"

Diamond Mind finished his plate of food, sighing and very carefully folding the plate up and preparing to get rid of it. He listened to Wild talk a bit, before frowning. His voice was very audible, to the point where any pony nearby could easily pick it up. "Not like you have much room to speak on me breaking bones. You literally set ponies on fire. How is it that there are ponies that exist that are somehow worse than me or my family? How? We're supposedly scum and get criticised for breaking the arm of some mugger, but oh, little mr. pegasus here wanted to play with fire and gave a bunch of thugs third-degree burns. No that's not worse than breaking someone's arm. No siree. You Equestrians fucking disgust me. Preaching peace and harmony while at the same time letting a clearly radical church continue to exist that will actually kill ponies for criticising them, letting insubordinate trash into a prestigious military academy because I betcha they think she might have promise, letting complete failures of protectors be the student of the princess and letting them blame everyone else for their own shortcomings, clicking your tongues at a noble defending himself with his fists while turning around and setting a group of thugs on fire. Excuse me while I go vomit up my meal in protest to you hypocritical assholes." He stood up, extending out two fingers up into the air with backs facing Wild. "Here's to you, you fucking hypocrite." And then he promptly walked away, going out the door and looking for a bathroom to go to vomit in.

____________________________"You're very mistaken. I'm not locked in here with you. You all are locked in here with me."

Pariah purred quietly as he eventually pulled away from Silver, stroking her mane gently before smirking as she shuddered happily. "Enjoyed that, did you?" he whispered, smiling as she nodded and rested her head against his chest. Both Pariah and Silver froze as Diamond began to his tirade, and Pariah chuckled dryly. "Never a quiet moment... You want to see if you can grab a quiet spot for tonight? I'll go deal with our... annoying noble," he said, giving Silver one last kiss before stalking into the crowd.

Pariah waited till Diamond was alone before speaking up. "You know, there are better ways to make a first impression Myalo. Insulting an entire nation of people in a single sentence isn't the wisest move if you want to keep your head on your shoulders," he mused, cleaning his teeth with a claw as he approached the stallion.

“There is a professional mechanic responsible for such needs, and I’d suggest that Mister Farcry go to see him. His name is Electric Eccentric and if you take a look at the map you’ll know where to find him.

“Now, I must be off; Principal Inkwell is busy with paperwork and so it is up to me to keep the students in line.” With that, Cinch walked off, keeping a hawk’s eye on the student body as best she could.

Fantasy merely nodded, not sure what to contribute to that.

“I don’t know if we’re allowed outside, otherwise I’d go out there, no concern for how I’d come out.” Nox said with a lighthearted smile.

Said smile vanished when Diamond went on his tirade, and was replaced by a subtle frown coupled with an intense glare. Who did this pony think he was, not spending a day in Equestria and he thought he knew enough about the nation to judge it in its entirety. Based off one of the most uppity and judgmental cities, no less!

“I would recommend fire as a scare tactic rather than a weapon.” Nox told Wild, not taking her eyes off of Diamond. “At least, for petty criminals. Scars can make a pony bitter, especially ones as ugly and frightening as burn scars.”

She was going to have words with Diamond. A little education about the true nature of Equestria.

____________________________Constructive criticism of my work is always, always appreciated.

Frustratingly for Viridian, Razor seemed to wait until the last second before she would be right next the thuggish thestral before she turned and walked off back towards the food table and stuffing her face again. She stopped briefly to look at Diamond go off on his rant and, compared to the courtyard, simply rolled her eyes and ignored him; she seemed to have decided the foreign egotist wasn't worth her effort messing with.

Razor slumped herself against a pillar of the hall on the floor, her plate of food by her side. The thestral leaned her head back on one arm, looking ready for some shut eye but first she made sure Cinch was turned around and gave the vice principal a two fingered salute behind her back, showing that Cinch held absolutely no fear or authority over the thestral.

____________________________If nothing we do matters then all that matters is what we do.

Sunny was gonna try and strike up another conversation when she heard her scroll ringing. A thought went through her head that made her chuckle as she answered the call. “Yello hello. Sunbutt here.” There was a pause as the pony on the other side talked. “Oh really? Sweet. Where are you?” Another pause. “Well why didn’t you tell me? I’ll be right there.” She tucked her scroll back wherever she pulled it from. “Well miss Fantasy, I’ll see ya later.” She said, then disappeared into the crowd.

Diamond Mind was very content to continue walking, looking for the bathroom. In fact, he was keeping relatively quiet, despite his anger wanting to boil over and have him hurt somebody. Then someone followed him and decided to talk right at him. "Oh, wonderful, another Equestrian, here to give me insight into their culture. And with a threat no less. Go ahead, do your petty moral posturing on how superior Equestria is. Then I want you to ask yourself a question. What could possibly make a foreigner who has basically never been to Equestria suddenly think you're a nation of hypocrites from just being in this school a few hours?"

Diamond Mind took a moment to let that sink in, before speaking again. "This group of respectless, moral-less, and undisciplined group of gobshites is the next generation of Equestria's defenders? I'm disturbed. I'm terrified to think why the makers of your supposedly perfect country of peace and harmony think ponies that lack discipline are ponies that should be armed to the teeth and entrusted with the lives of the population. I wouldn't trust these ponies to touch a kitchen knife, much less handle real weapons. Now, I'm going to vomit in disgust at you country. I can tell you want to intimidate me, but your half-robotic and definitely pussywhipped ass wouldn't be intimidating even if you had a chaingun. But rather than waste yourself here, you should go into porn. You look like you have a pretty mouth, and you're definitely a pretty face. Plus, there are plenty of ponies into robot prosthetics." He sighed and turned to walk away from Pariah, before stopping and looking over his shoulder. "You can either walk away or take a swing at me and lose both of those precious arms of yours. The ball is in your court."

____________________________"You're very mistaken. I'm not locked in here with you. You all are locked in here with me."

Wild Card was taken aback by Diamond's long tirade about Equestria and hypocrisy, before watching him walk away afterwards, leaving the pegasus in shocked silence. It took a few more seconds for Wild to come to terms with what had happened, and he looked rather confused. "Well I don't come from Equestria for a start." He said lightheartedly to Nox, his smile returning again. "And that's a shame about having to stay in here. But there's always another time, the rain will fall again someday."

The pegasus then nodded and shrugged. "Scare tactics are what it's meant to be, not my fault they got too close to the fire. You could say I need to exercise more control over the dust usage, or that a threat means nothing unless you act on it. Either way, I'm here to primarily fight Grimm, and given the bestial nature of them, fire should scare off the lesser ones." Wild replied nonchalantly. "Also, just going to mention it, they weren't petty criminals, and I was fighting for my life. But enough talk about fighting, we'll get enough of that as the year goes on, I'd think. Now is the time to eat, drink and generally relax before tomorrow." He said cheerfully, picking up a drink and downing it in one go afterwards.

Pariah crossed his arms and waited for Diamond to talk himself out, before chuckling quietly and raising an eyebrow. "Are you quite done? Ok. Firstly, we should get out of the way that I am a lowborn, as you so eloquently put it before... and I wasn't making a threat, just a statement that holds true for any country... especially yours I would wager."

He shook his head. "You speak of hypocrisy, but you're the one basing all your new found impressions on the words and actions of what, four, maybe five ponies? Doesn't that just reek of it? It's almost like every country has ponies who go against the grain of what the majority consider normal. After all, I don't recall ever having run into another Myalo who almost cries over one of his knights getting polished."

He laughed a little and wiped a tear away from his eye. "I'm not trying to intimidate you Diamond. And I'm certainly not going to attack you. Even despite your comments to my character that you've made based on literally nothing. If I wanted you dead, or injured, I would not confront you before hand. Call me cowardly, or pathetic... and even pussywhipped. I honestly don't care. Not everyone wants to be your enemy," he smiled. "This is the land of friendship after all."

Viridian just stared at the vice-principle for a moment. "Madam vice-principle, I am given to understand that this is an academy. I am also given to understand that the sole and entire purpose of an academy is to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge in multiple relevant fields of endeavor, all related to the principle discipline of hunting Grimms. As such, it seems to me that to have an instructor merely do our tasks for us defeats the whole purpose of being enrolled here." She inclines her head toward Cinch in a gesture of polite respect that's completely at odds with her words. "I shall pass your missive on to Mister Farcry and see what course of action he deems appropriate to the situation. Good day, madam vice-principle."

With that, she turns sharply on her heel and follows Razor to the food table, although this time she selects a lighter fare than the first time, and then silently follows the thestral to a side. Her ears turn in the direction of the ranting Diamond but she shows no sign of having heard him despite the fact that she couldn't possible have not heard his blathering tirade. She seats herself on the side of Razor opposite the plate of food and watches the thestral give the principle a "salute" with two upraised fingers. Having never seen the gesture that she can remember, she quirks an eyebrow at Razor in mute inquiry before starting to nibble at her selected food.

Cinch scowled as Viridian walked away. She had an answer for her, but apparently she was another one of Inkwell's horrible choices for the student body and thus had no patience for being corrected. She took a deep breath and moved on. If the student had no interest in learning better, that was not her problem.

Nox didn't respond, keeping a hawk's watch and a bat's ear on Diamond and Pariah.

And now Fantasy was alone. And she had no idea who to talk to. She couldn't put her mind on anyone else but Sunset, and she couldn't talk to her because... well, she was a bitch. After a moment Fantasy just settled for looking around the room, admiring the ponies. This sort of thing really was amazing to see.

[Alright, whoever has unfinished conversations right now go ahead and finish them up because a timeskip's coming next post.]

____________________________Constructive criticism of my work is always, always appreciated.

Diamond Mind shrugged at Pariah's first points, turning around to fully face him. "I think you haven't studied the territories. See, serfdom was outlawed seventeen generations ago, so technically the term 'lowborn', which refers to a serf, has no use in the context you think it does anymore. However, it's now slang for someone who sucks up to someone else despite repeated abuse. Someone who does that deserves no respect. Since she was sucking up to that...joke of a mare that was claiming to be Celestia's student, I simply called her a lowborn and the Silver Knights repositioned her because she wasn't keeping proper clearance."

Then he started laughing. "Do you want to know how many ponies in the Myalo family make and enforce laws in the territories? One hundred. In a family of seven hundred. They also direct the Silver Knights. And yet ponies base their opinions of my family on those one hundred. Why can't I do that to everyone else, eh? Also, that thestral was one stolen bucket of fried chicken and a 'hail Nightmare Moon' away from being the single most racist caricature of a thestral I've ever seen. I swear it's like one of those 'Light Tracts' you find in the bathrooms damn near everywhere suddenly turned into a pony."

Diamond tilted his head slightly. "Then what the actual fuck was that opening with the claws and shit? Like, seriously. Some call that 'amateur hour' at the intimidation ring but if I were a lesser pony who didn't snap Grimm in half with his bare hands I would have been more than intimidated. And ponies automatically assume that since the Silver Knights, who I don't command, are present that I somehow need protection from other ponies. It's really quite the opposite. Most ponies need protection from me, especially when I'm in one of my moods..." He pondered on that for a moment, but then his ears perked up at Pariah mentioning not wanting to be an enemy. "Do you really mean it? Really? That would be WONDERFUL. It'd be nice to meet an Equestrian who practices what their entire country preaches today. I would be overtaken by joy and I might reconsider vomiting."

____________________________"You're very mistaken. I'm not locked in here with you. You all are locked in here with me."

Pariah shrugged. "You say that Myalo, but last I checked, nobles still need servants, and numbers are so very easy to fix," he replied. "I know that well enough. And that joke of a student is indeed a student nonetheless."

He raised an eyebrow. "The reason, Myalo, is because that would be a ratio of one to seven. Compate that to the example of you basing your assumptions on the actions of several ponies compared to a much wider population. It's simple math really," he shrugged, before snorting. "Heil Nightmare Moon? Really? I honestly cannot say I have ever actually heard anyone say that..."

Pariah blinked, before snorting loudly. "Two things Myalo. One, I have no flesh and blood arms. They were... removed many years ago, these claws are all I have left. Second, I wasn't trying to intimidate you, I was picking lettuce out of my teeth. It was going to irritate me all night if I didn't." Pariah smiled and nodded. "And despite your sarcasm, I was quiet serious. I would offer you a handshake, but I rather enjoy not being in prison and having both robotic limbs."

Diamond Mind shrugged. "Most are in-house. They're the unlucky ponies who are born on the lowest rung of the Myalo family. There's around three hundred...and fifty? Maybe? We don't much trust servants from outside of the house. And those one hundred law making ponies don't leave the house for fear of being murdered by the public. So that automatically rules me out." He yawned a bit, stretching his arms a bit under his poncho, though they seemed somewhat restrained in his arm movements. "Okay, you won't hear the phrase outside of more...radical sects of thestral society, but that 'image' was cultivated by Light Tracts made by Celestia's Witnesses. Trust me they're as poorly written as you think they are."

"Okay, I can see that. My father as a little bit more practical choice in arms, but it's whatever. I understand that we're in a much better position than most to afford robotic prosthetics than most. And...being friends would be nice." Diamond Mind started to smile a bit, right before his eyes rolled back and he fainted. He would recover in a minute, but he wouldn't explain to anyone present what happened and would try to walk back into the ballroom, obviously having troubles with staying stable for some reason related to the sudden fainting.

____________________________"You're very mistaken. I'm not locked in here with you. You all are locked in here with me."

"Students, it is time to go to sleep. New students, your initiation is tomorrow and I expect you all to be at your best for it. However, if you feel it is not worth your interest, those are your consequences to suffer. Returning students, you have class, and anyone tardy will be sent straight to me. And believe me when I say you do not want to start your year so poorly."

"What? Already?" Fantasy asked, looking up at the ceiling as if it had been the thing speaking. "It's barely past sunset. She must've run out of patience quickly."

Many students seemed to be in agreement with Fantasy, parroting her words to themselves and each other (some of them very loudly).

"Does she honestly expect us to sleep this early? Surely she's smarter than that." Fantasy looked over to see that it was Sunset who'd said that. She must've wandered over here by accident, she thought.

"Smarter, yes. However, I doubt she's thinking rationally; she's been annoyed by several new, unorthodox students this evening and probably just wants them to sit down and shut up." Fantasy answered.

"Wha- oh for Celestia's sake you're still following me?"

Fantasy snickered. "I was here first. You came to me."

Sunset glared and snorted. "Why do I have to suffer because of a handful of annoying idiots?" she grumbled, looking away.

"Because Cinch is a biased, self-centered cuntnugget?" Fantasy ventured with a wide grin on her face.

Sunset wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Charming."

"So is your arrogance and contempt."

And it escalated from there until Sunset stormed off to the other side of the ballroom.Nox moved closer to the windows, which the rain was beating relentlessly. She pulled a sleeping bag and a wrinkled blanket out of her Bag and laid down facing the windows, using the blanket as a pillow. Pyra crawled into the blanket and snuggled up against Nox's chest.Day of Initiation:

"Good morning students. I hope you all had a restful sleep." Inkwell greeted, looking at each of the first-years lined up in front of her. "Today is your initiation into this school. I hope you all will appreciate my bluntness when I say that your initiation will essentially be a scavenger hunt. There are a collection of items throughout the initiation field that everypony needs to find. There are enough for you all, and the items are easy to identify, so don't worry about missing them.

"This initiation is also how you all will find your teammates for the four years you all will be here. The first pony you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner, and the first pair you make eye contact with will be your team's second half."

"'Upon landing'?" Nox asked, looking at the sky, expecting to find an aircraft of some sort.

"Yep!" Inkwell chirped. "You're going to be catapulted right into the field! Those of you without wings will need a landing strategy."

Nox's eyes went wide. Pyra squawked.

"Oh, sorry Miss Moon, but no pets allowed."

Nox numbly waved Pyra goodbye. Was this pony crazy?! Did she want half of her students dead before the year started?! She could land, of course- her magic was more than powerful enough for self-levitation -but what about everypony else?! She looked to her left and right for the rest of the students' reactions; either they were all expecting this, or were really good at hiding fear.

Fantasy was one of the few who actually seemed nervous; she had no idea how she was gonna land: she had no wings and weak magic.

Sunset looked more than ready for this, and smirked smugly at the nervous Fantasy out of the corner of her eye.

____________________________Constructive criticism of my work is always, always appreciated.

Wild Card, upon hearing the announcement to sleep, was one of the students wondering why in Equestria they had to do that so early on in the evening. He was very much used to staying up at least until the next day rolled over, so he didn't exactly feel tired in the slightest. Still, it couldn't harm him and he had, at this point, had a nice evening meal and drink, so the pegasus felt that falling asleep couldn't be too difficult.

After a few moments of scanning the hall to find any good spots near the window, as a good view of the outside to fall asleep to was something Wild had come to love, he arrived at an open space not far away from where the rain was falling and took off his hat. From his hat fell a rolled up sleeping bag and pillow, which he set out properly on the floor and got into after undressing.Wild, on the day of initiation, was standing quite happily in his full attire (with armour underneath), listening to Inkwell. The idea of a scavenger hunt intrigued him, especially one part of him who immediately thought of adventure and derring-do. However, the part that really made his ears perk up was the information about being catapulted from where they stood - this sounded highly dangerous, but parts of Wild eagerly looked forward to it. "Oh this'll be so much fun." Wild whispered to himself quietly, stretching his wings out briefly and getting ready for the launch. "Don't worry, New Moon. I'm sure that this is safe-ish. After all it is the first day, not like they'd want to hurt us too much right now." The stallion said cheerfully as he saw Nox looking to each side, assuming this was because of nerves.

Pariah returned the shrug, before chuckling. "And after what Luna went through, I can understand a little freakout. Neglect is a cruel mistress. A pleasure to be your friend Myalo... but these arms were not cheap. So just... avoid breaking them. Please."

The Day

Pariah was quiet as Inkwell explained the situation, before peering over the edge. He froze as he heard that they were going to be catapulted, before looking very slowly to Silver, who merely smiled and waved back a him.

Suppressing a sigh, he raised a hand slowly. "Miss Inkwell, I'm not sure whether you are aware, but some of us here do not have magic or wings... and some of have rather... constrained auras. Are you really trying to kill us before I even have a chance? I mean, I can understand trying to level the playing field, but killing the weaker of us... seems a bit odd."

Whether she answered his question or not, Pariah began to switch places with ponies till he was standing next to his fiance, nibbling her ear and whispering something to her.

Viridian looked in the general direction that Cinch's voice was coming from, an eyebrow ascending slightly. "A little early for sleeping, it seems. Then again, it appears that Vice Principal Cinch has a somewhat... transient grasp on rationality." So thinking, she shrugs and rises from where she was sitting next to Razor. "Well, early to bed, early to rise, makes a scholar wealthy, healthy, and wise." Unhooking her naginata from its place on her back, she starts towards the dorms. More accurately, she marches towards the dorms, her footsteps assuming a very regular military cadence and the butt of her weapon tapping out the beats with the regularity of a metronome. Oh the aim of pacing march, is a question rather smart. For to march and drill o'er field and hill is a military goal. Yes, a military goal. With rank or single file, o'er every scholar mile, we're to stamp and crush, fighting Grimm in brush, in a military style. Yes, a military style. And I'll march from here to there, with a very whimsic flair, set to push on through when the war ensues, with a military air, yes that military air.

Having slept quite well, somehow managing to collapse into bed as if she was utterly exhausted and only awake when her alarm goes off (resulting in an early morning exercise in spontaneous object-dodging, Viridian seems almost chipper when she arrives for the initiation briefing. In addition to her normal ensemble, she's added what appears to be a large rectangular parcel securely tied down against her mid-back and covering the area from shoulder to shoulder and hip to neck. The corners of the object are visibly reinforced with metal and the entire thing has been latched shut with inch-thick iron bars run through thick loops of metal on both the top and the bottom, each bar then secured with cotter pins attached to integrated combination locks. The object doesn't appear to weigh her down, possibly because of the system of straps that evenly distribute the weight over her entire torso, and she's even moved the magnetic attachment sheath so that her weapon can attach to the box instead of her back. Being told that they were going to have to land somehow doesn't visibly faze her, earning a mere quick nod in the direction of Inkwell. If Fantasy is looking around, however, she's notice that Viridian has leaned out of line a little and is giving her as reassuring a look as the customarily austere unicorn can manage. "Yes, I'm sure we won't be weeded out in a calculated survival-of-the-fittest contest in order to get the very best and fittest students. Mostly because that would just leave the Myalo, and I think having a class of just him might make Cinch weep." She considers this. "Which would be fun to see, come to think of it. And you won't get to see if you die now, so work extra hard on the part where you don't die."

When morning came, Sunshine could be seen looking more eager than most. Of course, she kept that eagerness to herself as Inkwell addressed the students. Being catapulted into the field would be a no-brainer for a pegasus like Sunny. Or at least it would be if she didn’t have a black belt wrapped around her torso, keeping her wings against her back. She didn’t need wings for this test. She looked towards Fantasy and waved hello. Sunny was still wearing the same outfit that was had on yesterday, but she also had a black and white sword on her back that seemed to glow slightly. Come to think of it, Sunny herself seemed to glow as well. Probably just that bright yellow fur. Probably.

Diamond Mind had slept well, if a bit troubled, through the night. When he awoke, he reflexively took off two strange devices from his legs that to the trained eye looked like weights. This was it. Initiation day. When they went out, Diamond Mind took off his poncho, revealing scars in a vine pattern that traced all the way from his hands to his shoulders, chest, and back, to Celestia knows where as the pattern seemed to go below his waist, covered by his specialized cargo pants. His hands seemed to have suffered the worst of all, having a strange, lotus flower motif carved into his palms. He got into position along with everyone else, and while he waited to be launched, he did quite a few stretches to get ready for the test.

____________________________"You're very mistaken. I'm not locked in here with you. You all are locked in here with me."

Razor Back slept like a log up against the pillar. She didn't even lie down, let alone use a pillow, she simply laid her head against the pillar and fell asleep but she didn't seem to stay because she was up before anyone else had even risen, already dressed in her combat attire and with her weapons strapped to her back by the time dawn broke.

Razor Back rolled her eyes when they talked about the catapulting like it was a big deal; Razor's combat attire was black like her normal jacket but instead she now wore a pair of tight black trousers with straps and holsters running up her legs and a black flak vest which lacked sleeves, showing off her powerful arms; her face was covered by what looked like some form of gas mask except it lacked a rebreather in front of the mouth and instead had a simple mouth guard, the lenses of the mask were tinted dark purple and completely hid her eyes from view.

"Bit of advice; make sure you look down, it helps." Razor said to Nox as she walked past her; it wasn't sarcasm either, she always found when making fast paced landings that seeing where she was going to land was reassuring, gave her a perspective to work from.

____________________________If nothing we do matters then all that matters is what we do.

Before the founding of Equestria, there were three pony tribes in alliance: the Unicorns, the Pegasi, and the Earth Ponies. However, this alliance was tense and fragile, only held together by necessity: the earth ponies were needed to grow food, the unicorns to bring day and night, and the pegasi to create the weather. There was intense hatred and distrust between the three tribes.

This tension and cold-heartedness attracted the first Grimm ever known to ponykind: the Windigos. These creatures followed the ponies wherever they went and fed on the hatred and bitterness in the their hearts, freezing their world and nearly the ponies themselves. It was only when the ponies put aside their differences and opened their hearts that they discovered a force that could rid them of the Windigos forever: the power of Love. With the Windigos banished, their land and brethren thawed, and the Windigos from then on were seen only in the coldest regions of the Frozen North.

Many years after, just when the ponies were starting to thrive in the new land they called Equestria, Grimm invaded from every direction. They slaughtered ponies left and right, and for the second time ponies faced eradication, and not even the few who could use the power of Love could fight them off for long.

Then came the Sisters. They had power like no other pony before: more magical than any unicorn, swifter than any pegasus, and stronger than any earth pony. And the most powerful Love any pony had ever known (though that didn’t have anything to do with them being alicorns). The two sisters did to the Grimm what would’ve taken an army and saved Equestria. Then, to almost unanimous insistence, they became the Princesses, and the Protectors, of Equestria.

____________________________Constructive criticism of my work is always, always appreciated.